Jacmel Till Saturday

We have enjoyed staying in Jacmel-during the day. The babes play amongst the trees and in the wading pool while the ocean breeze wafts from the sea and refreshes our bodies. One day it rained...sheets and sheets of rain that left us feeling cold and damp even while we were safe inside. I revelled in how cool it was and was able to snuggle up against Abe without sweating. The next day felt just as wet-only the sun bore fiercely down on us. We were in an enormous green house and I am sad to say, ALL of us received quite the sunburn. Poor Thad somehow got the worst of it. His little upper arms have small patches of blisters. Not to be discouraged, the kids were right back in the sun and the pool the next day. I have nearly run out of sunscreen. It seems the local stuff is NO GOOD (Thad was consistently slathered in it the day he was so badly burned) I shall have to go to the expensive supermarket and purchase Neutaogoina or Aveeno. I am slightly glad that, at the moment, we do not live in a place with a pool or the ocean. Indoor games during the heat of the day suffice for the babes back in Port Au Prince.

Kentye, Davidson and Abe. Tired after lugging the Babes and I to the ocean and back. 

This is our view from the back porch of the house in Jacmel. While it was horrid to live without water and power while we were there, the views were amazing.

Carolanne had her baby dollies and Abe made three balloons from my stash of gloves before I could stop him. Turns out the gloves have MANY uses. If you pull the ring from the wrist part of them it makes an acceptable Hair tie. :-)

The building surrounding the house showed the destruction and devastation from that earthquake two years ago. the rubble has been mostly cleaned, but the buildings stand as skeletons to what they once were.

Abe and his littlest ones. They have been soooo happy to be with Daddy!

Adam has remained my right hand man and is SUCH a blessing to me!

I found it interesting that not only was there a servants' room and bathroom in the back yard, but there were also seperate entrances. The one on the right  set apart from the house by a long ugly hall. There is not backdoor on this house. In Port Au Prince, the house we stay at has back entrances and the servants and service men NEVER come through the front door.

I love the bright colors that you find in the houses here. I am hoping our little home in Penye will be as deliciously decorated!

Abe and his little man in the backyard.

Isaiah getting a drink of water. Remember-the drinking water that is sold on the streets is packaged in tiny bags. One must bite off the corner and suck the water out.

Carolanne showing you the water. I need to work on getting her to smile for pictures again!

CRAZY KIDS ;-)

Abe always makes his men laugh by saying he has FIVE children while patting me on the head. 

I usually reward him with a good sticking out of my tongue. 

Oh well. Who wants to be grown up anyway?!

I was attempting to capture the mosquito bites, but the array of knobby little knees was soooo endearing I am glad the little red bumps didn't show up. :-D

Breakfast at the hotel. We have finally ordered EVERYTHING on the menu. A rather rough way of learning the language, but we shall never again order the fish with eyeballs!!! (on the flip side, accidentally ordering the lobster was an EXCELLENT mishap!)

During a quest to find sunscreen we stumbled across a very nice man who took a list of what we needed from the pharmacy and said he had business to do up at the hotel so he would get the items and bring them to us. When he arrived with our goodies he brought with him a wide variety of paintings done by the 13 children he supports in his home. They were beautiful and several had intense meanings that he tried to explain to me in broken English. I purchased a few for our new home. 

The pool is really just a wading pool but the kids LOVE it-and the new friends they play with every day.

Abe's work. There is a story FAR to complex and long to get into all the frustrations he is dealing with. In short- half way through the work week his men stopped working all together. Turns out the owner of Kaytech was displease with the crews quality of work and decided to move them from contract pay to daily wages. The men felt this was out of a lack of disrespect and went on strike causing the owner to drive all the way to Jacmel to try to resolve the issue. There was a lot of yelling during the meeting and Matthias (the owner)'s body guard stepped rather close to him several times. After he left the men talked and debated and talked.  With all of the counseling and explaining Abe tried to do they still decided to quit this job. Abe is unsure if they will return and work for Kaytech in Port Au Prince or if this is really it. It saddens him for this is the crew he first trained and works so well with. He is hoping to plead their case and get them back to work soon. 

The bungalows Abe is now finished up while training a whole new crew-who do NOT speak any english...

With that aside our stay here HAS been nice. I am sad to leave here tomorrow. The kids have enchanted the staff here and Thad and Isaiah run each morning before breakfast to kiss the "Gramma Lady" who smiles and holds them gently. Isaiah informed me yesterday that he was in love. Yes. Little Isaiah. "Mommy, I am in loooove wif the girl in the purple shirt." He was referring to the waitress who plays with and tickles and teases him constantly. "I'm in looove with two people. Mommy and the girl." He continued to sing a song all afternoon about the girl in the purple shirt. 

I am hoping our stay in Port Au Prince will be short and soon we will be moving into Penye where we can make permanent friends and Isaiah will be free to fall in looooove with someone he can see longer than a week. :-)